Mill guides



J. MALTBY MILL GUIDES 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 5, 19s? INVENTOR JACK MALTBY Ly m A TORNEY Aug. 19, 1969 J. MALTBY 3,461,707

MILL GUIDES med Jan. :5, 1967 s Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR JAC K MALTBY Hj5 ATTORNEY g 19, 1 J. MALTBY 3,461,707

mm. muons Filed Jan. 5, 1967 :s Sheets-Sheath INVENTOIR JACK MALTBY am M22 HIS ATTORNEY retraction whilst the screw means move with the 3,461,707 MILL GUIDES United States Patent Jack Maltby, Todwick, Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, as-

signor to Davy and United Engineering Company. Limited, Sheffield, England Filed Jan. 3, 1967, Ser. No. 606,957

Claims priority, application Great Britain, Jan. 3, 1966.

Int. Cl. BZlb 39/06 US. Cl. 72-250 7 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE -An entry guide for directing strip into a.rolling mill 1 capable of being raised and lowered vertically, and a pair of edge guides forming part of the entry guide displaceable towards and away from each other to vary the separation thereof and also movable upwards and sideways to a position in which the entry guide is out of the way during roll changing.

This invention relates to guide apparatus for guiding sheet, strip or such-like material produced in a rolling mill, eg a strip or plate mill.

In conventional guide apparatus the guides, when rolls of a rolling mill are to be changed. retract parallel to the pass-line of the mill with which they are associated. It is desirable for the edger to be as close as possible to the centre line of the following stand of the mill and the conventional manner of rotation of the guides militates against this since the guides would be prevented from their full movement by coming into abutment with the edger.

According to the present invention guide apparatus for sheet. strip or such-like material produced in a rolling mill is so adapted that on retraction from associated rolls the guides will move outwardly, and downwardly or upwardly from the nip of the rolls.

Preferably the movement of the guides is arcuate in an upward direction.

Preferably the apparatus according to the invention comprises guides, link means, a stationary member or members and link moving means. the link means being pivotally connected at one end to the guides, or a support therefor, and at the other to the stationary member or members so that the guides can be moved in an upward arcuate path from the said member or members, a link or links of the link means being movable by the link moving means to move the guides.

It will be seen that the present apparatus can be made to permit the edger to be positioned nearer the following stand than is possible with conventional guide apparatus, since the guides can be made to pass above the edger'without fouling it.

In order to save further space it is desirable that the guides have a mechanism, for altering their lateral spacing, which is accommodated substantially between the housings of the mill and the guides in their operative position are substantially within the confines of the housings. Preferably such mechanism comprises means which chain drive a screw means for altering the lateral spacing of the guides, the driving means remaining stationary during the guides.

The invention can be used in conjunction with looper ICC apparatus or looper and redirecting apparatus. Thus in a strip mill with stands close together the strip, after passing through one stand. can be looped by the said looper apparatus, redirected by the said redirecting apparatus and then be guided into the -nip of the work rolls of the next stand by guide apparatus according to the present invention. in an alternative arrangement the looper apparatus is used in conjunction with the present guide apparatus without the redirecting apparatus.

The invention includes a method for guiding a sheet. strip or such-like material using'an apparatus according to the invention whether or not in conjunction with apparatus according to our said cognated co-pending applications.

The present invention will now be further described with reference to the diagrammatic drawings. by way of example only, which accompanied the provisional specification.

In these drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a longitudinal cross'section through apparatus disposed between two stands of a hot steel strip mill and consisting of guide apparatus according to the present invention, in operative association with a looper and redirecting apparatus both of which are particularly described in our said co-pending applications;

FIGURE 2 is a transverse cross-section taken on the line llll in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of FIGURES l and 2:

FIGURF. 4 is a perspective view of the other guide and block of FIGURES l and 2;and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of a support frame for the guides.

of a guide and block A pair of guides or chutes 1, 2 of guide apparatus 6..

a corresponding block 8 which is keyed to a similar nut 9, the blocks 6 and 8 overlapping one another and being guided in their movement by T-section beams 10. The guides are supported on a support frame 11 which is ultimately supported by base rails 12 carried by the two housings 13 of the mill stand. in turn the frame 11 is supported by rails 14. A pair of wedges 15 and 16 is disposed between each rail 14 and 12.

The frame 11 and rails 14 are connected together by a pair of links 17, pivoted at each end. and a pair of links 18, also pivoted at each end. Thus with the rails 14 stationary, the frame 11 will move upwardly and arcuately when the links 17 and 18 are moved. To produce such movement the links 18 are each pivotally connected to a hydraulic jack 19. The jacks 19 are pivotally mounted at to brackets 31 secured to the housings 13.

The nuts 7 and 9 are threadably engaged with screw shafts 20, 21 of which shaft 20 has a left-hand thread and shaft 21 a right-hand thread. The shafts 20, 21 are carried by bearings 22 in bearing box 23 which are disposed in the frame 11. The shafts 20. 21 are driven via chains by shafts 25. 26 respectively which-are carried by bearing blocks 27 supported by brackets bolted to the housings 13. Rails 14 are supported by the shafts'ZS. 26 which are driven conventionally.

The rails 14 can be moved by the conventional wedge system 15, 16 moved by a pair of screw jacks 28 which in turn are synchronised by a shaft 29.

The guides can be moved in three ways. Firstly, they can be moved outwardly and upwardly from the roll nip in an arcuate path to make the mill stand 65 accessible for roll changing purposes. Secondly, they can be moved laterally in relation to each other by the nuts 7, 9 moving along the threaded shafts 20, 21 to accommodate different widths of strip fed to the mill. Thirdly, they can be moved vertically to take account of different vertical positions of the pass-line. These movements will now be described in more detail.

The first said movement is accomplished by operating the hydraulic jacks 19 so that they move the links 18, and therefore the links 17 also, in an arcuate path which is shown chain dotted in FIGURE 1. The movement is continued until the links are substantially vertical, the pivotally mounted jacks 19 following the links 18. Thus the frame 11 and therefore the guides 1, 2 are lifted outwardly and upwardly from the nip of the work rolls 64. In this movement the screw shafts 20, 21 will be carried with rails 11. The retracted position is shown by the chain dotted lines in FIGURE 1.

The lateral movement of the guides 1, 2 will now be described in more detail. When the shafts 25, 26 are driven they, in turn, drive shafts 20, 21 through the chains 24. When the screw shafts 20, 21 revolve they cause the nuts 7, 9 to move therealong, and the direction of such movement will depend on the direction of rotation of the screw shafts, thereby causing the guides 1, 2 to approach, or move away from each other. The guides 1, 2 in FIGURE 2 are shown at their maximum spacing apart and dotted lines indicate their minimum spacing. The advantage of such a drive is that no elaborate drive shaft couplings are needed, the mechanism for altering the lateral spacing of the guides is accommodated between the housings and the guides move Within the confines of the housings.

The movement to adjust the guides in relation to the pass-line in a vertical direction is conventional and will therefore only be briefly described. The shaft 29, when the vertical position of the guides is to be altered, is driven so that it adjusts the screw jacks, 28 to move them either to the left or right in FIGURE 1 so moving the wedges 15 in relation to the associated wedges 16 so that these move either upwardly or downwardly. Thus the rail 14 and therefore the rail 11 and guides 1, 2 are raised or lowered.

The guide mechanism can be operatively associated as shown in the drawings, with the looper and redirecting apparatus. It will be seen that the strip 3A, emerging from a neighbouring stand (not shown) and passing toward the stand 65, travels over the looper L and would continue at too high a level, as indicated by strip 3B, to be accommodated properly between edger rolls 52. The strip is therefore passed under the redirecting apparatus to redirect the strip so that it passes between the edger rolls 52 and then is guided to the nip of the rolls 64.

In accordance with the provisions of the patents statues, I have explained the principle and operation of my invention and have illustrated and described what I consider to represent the best embodiment thereof. However, I desire to have it understood that within the scope of the appended claims, the invention may be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated and described.

I claim:

1. An entry guide for directing strip into a rolling mill to be processed thereby comprising:

support means adapted for securement to the mill on the entry side thereof,

spaced-apart rails carried by the support means and extending in the direction parallel to the direction of travel of the strip into the mill,

a wedge assembly interposed between each rail and the support means,

means for moving said wedge assemblies to effect a vertical raising and lowering of said rails,

a frame having an upper horizontal support surface and which is pivotally secured to said rails to permit said frame to be displaced upwardly and sideways with respect to the rails with said support surface remaining horizontal,

separate means for displacing said frame,

a pair of channel shaped edge guide members for the strip carried by the frame with the channels facing one another, and

means for displacing said guide members relative to one another and to the frame in the direction normal to said rails to vary the separation of said guide means.

2. An entry guide as claimed in claim 1 in which said means for vertically raising and lowering the rails with respect to the support means comprise pairs of tapered wedges interposed between each rail and the support means and means for moving one wedge of each pair with respect to the other wedge of the pair.

3. An entry guide as claimed in claim 2 in which the one wedge of each pair is moved synchronously with the one wedge of each other pair by means of at least one screw jack.

4. An entry guide as claimed in claim 1 in which the frame is pivotally secured to each rail by a pair of parallel links and at least one link of each pair is rotatable relative to the rail to which it is pivoted by a piston and cylinder assembly.

5. An entry guide as claimed in claim 1 in which said edge guide members are rigidly supported one on each of a pair of guide blocks arranged in side-by-side relation in slots in said support surface of the frame, said guide blocks being in threaded engagement with right and left hand threaded rods respectively and means are provided for rotating said rods to cause said blocks to be traversed towards and away from each other.

6. An entry guide as claimed in claim 1 in which said' edge guides have an inlet end and an outlet end and are tapered from a maximum channel section at the inlet end to a minimum section at the outlet end.

7. An entry guide for directing strip into a rolling mill to be processed thereby comprising:

first and second spaced-apart rails adapted for securement to the mill at the entry side of the mill,

third and fourth spaced-apart rails carried by said first and second rails, respectively,

two pairs of tapered wedges interposed between the first and third rails and the second and fourth rails, respectively,

means for moving one wedge of each pair relative to the other wedge of the pair to vertically raise and lower the third and fourth rails with respect to the the first and second rails,

a support frame extending between and carried by said third and fourth rails, said frame having an upper horizontal support surface defining parallel slots therein which slots extend normal to said rails,

a parallel linkage mechanism pivoted to said third and fourth rails and to said frame to permit said frame to be displaced upwardly and sideways along an arcuate path with respect to said third and fourth rails with said support surface horizontal,

at least one piston and cylinder assembly for so displacing said frame,

guide blocks arranged in side-by-side relation in said frame slots, said blocks being in threaded engagement with right and left hand threaded rods respectively,

means for rotating said rods to cause said blocks to be traversed in said slots towards and away from each other, and

5 a pair of channel-shaped edge guide members for the strip positioned above said support surface and rigid- 1y supported one on each of said guide blocks with said channels facing one another.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 6 2,816,467 12/1957 Thoren 72-250 3,058,376 10/1962 Fry 72-250 3,071,032 1/ 1963 Teplitz 72-250 5 CHARLES W. LANHAM, Primary Examiner E. SUTTON, Assistant Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 72--428 

